Ballet Hispánico, the nation's leading Latino dance organization since 1970 and recognized this year as one of America's Cultural Treasures, is accepting applications from emerging choreographers and filmmakers for the Instituto Coreográfico. Now in its ninth year, the Instituto has helped to provide an important platform for 11 choreographers. The program provides young Latinx artists a supportive environment in which to explore process, cultural identity, and movement invention through the creation of dance. Now accepting applications for submission online at http://bit.ly/instituto-2021 by March 1, 2021 at 5pm EST.

 

When Ballet Hispánico was founded nearly 50 years ago, Latinx artists were invisible to the dance field. Since its founding, Ballet Hispánico has played an instrumental role in changing the narrative; now, generations of Latinx artists have produced art that reinterpret their heritage, bringing fresh perspectives on the Latinx experience. In 2010, Artistic Director & CEO Eduardo Vilaro launched Instituto Coreográfico, a choreographic institute for Latinx artists to create culturally specific work in a nurturing learning laboratory of dance. The choreographer in residence is paired with an emerging filmmaker to document their process, create promotional materials, and add a layer of artistic collaboration.

 

"As a dancer back in the 80s, I could count on my hand the number of Latinx choreographers that would come through the door," said Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director & CEO. "Instituto Coreográfico is a way of nourishing, mentoring, and developing leaders and artists of color, in particular Latinas and Latinos."

 

Instituto Coreográfico also invites audience members, dance leaders, presenters and choreographers to respond, reflect, and enter into dialogue about dance and culture with an emerging choreographer through showings and panel discussions. With this invaluable platform, Ballet Hispánico continues to give a voice to young artists and opens access to the dance-making process for all audiences.

 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Spring Instituto Coreográfico will have a combination of virtual and in person components. Ballet Hispánico will be selecting one choreographer and one filmmaker who reside in the United States for this year's Instituto Coreográfico. Ballet Hispánico is committed to keeping all artists safe during the pandemic, developing a "pod" approach and adhering to current health and safety protocols with dancers to enable the choreographer to work in studio, however the choreographer may also opt to do a virtual process. All applicants must be willing to follow physical distancing and our COVID-19 guidelines. A virtual showing will take place on June 10, 2021.

 

Instituto Coreográfico is open to applicants 18+ who identify as Latinx(a,o), Hispanic, Latin American, who have fewer than five years of professional experience, and who have availability from May 17-28, a minimum of five hours daily between 9am and 6pm ET. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/instituto-2021.

 

Major funding for Instituto Coreográfico was provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

About Ballet Hispánico

Ballet Hispánico is the nation's renowned Latino dance organization and one of America's Cultural Treasures. Ballet Hispánico brings communities together to celebrate and explore Latino cultures through innovative dance performances, transformative dance training, and enduring community engagement experiences. Founded in 1970 by National Medal of Arts recipient, Tina Ramírez, the organization emerged during the post-civil rights movement on New York's Upper West Side, providing a safe haven for primarily Black and Brown Latinx youth seeking artistic sanctuary during New York City's plight in the 1970s. The need for place, both culturally and artistically, led families to find Ballet Hispánico. The focus on dance as a means to develop working artists, combined with the training, authenticity of voice, and power of representation, fueled the organization's roots and trajectory. With its strong emphasis on dance, achievement, and public presence, the organization has flourished in its three main programs: its Company, School of Dance, and Community Arts Partnerships. The organization serves as a platform for historically omitted and overlooked artists providing them with increased capacity, voice, and affirmation. Over the past five decades, by leading with Latinx culture at the forefront of performance, education, and advocacy, Ballet Hispánico's mission is a catalyst of change and possibility for communities throughout our nation.